Major League (1989)

The new owner of the Cleveland Indians puts together a purposely horrible team so they'll lose and she can move the team. But when the plot is uncovered, they start winning just to spite her.

Director:

David S. Ward (as David Ward)

Writer:

David S. Ward (as David Ward)

Stars:

Tom Berenger, Charlie Sheen, Corbin Bernsen

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tom Berenger	...	Jake Taylor
Charlie Sheen	...	Ricky Vaughn
Corbin Bernsen	...	Roger Dorn
Margaret Whitton	...	Rachel Phelps
James Gammon	...	Lou Brown
Rene Russo	...	Lynn Wells
Wesley Snipes	...	Willie Mays Hayes
Charles Cyphers	...	Charlie Donovan
Chelcie Ross	...	Eddie Harris
Dennis Haysbert	...	Pedro Cerrano
Andy Romano	...	Pepper Leach
Bob Uecker	...	Harry Doyle
Steve Yeager	...	Duke Temple
Peter Vuckovich	...	Haywood
Stacy Carroll	...	Suzanne Dorn

Storyline

Rachel Phelps is the new owner of the Cleveland Indians baseball team. However, her plans for the team are rather nefarious. She wants to move the team to Miami for the warmer climate and a new stadium. To justify the move, the team has to lose, and lose badly. So she assembles the worst possible team she can. Among these are a past-his-prime catcher with bad knees, a shrewd but past-his-prime pitcher, a young tearaway pitcher (and felon) with a 100 mph fastball but absolutely no control, a third baseman who is too wealthy and precious to dive, a voodoo-loving slugger who can't hit a curve ball and an energetic-but-naive lead off hitter and base-stealer who can't keep the ball on the ground. Against the odds, and after the inevitable initial failures, they iron out some of their faults and start to win, much to Ms Phelps' consternation.

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Plot Keywords:

cutout | eccentricity | homerun | dog | whiskey | 

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Taglines:

When these three oddballs try to play hardball, the result is totally screwball.

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Genres:

Comedy | Sport

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene when Harry Doyle dabs some Jack Daniels whiskey behind his ear was improvised by Bob Uecker. He said it was meant to show that his character liked whiskey so much that he would put some on himself (like perfume).

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Goofs

In the final "bunt and steal" scene, after the signs have been given by Lou Brown and the base coach, Taylor is knocked down by an up and in fastball by the Duke. Hayes should have been running on the pitch as he would have assumed Taylor was bunting based on the signs. There's no way the signal would have included a "run on the 2nd pitch" instruction as Taylor already had one strike on him. Hayes steals on the next pitch and scores on Taylor's bunt single.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Rachel Phelps: Good morning, gentlemen, and welcome to another season of Indians baseball.

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Alternate Versions

In the spring training scene in which Dorn challenges his prescribed calisthenics, an edited-for-television version of the film has Lou Brown blowing his nose in Dorn's contract rather than urinating on it.

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Connections

Followed by Major League: Back to the Minors (1998)

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Soundtracks

Cryin' Shame
Written & Performed by Lyle Lovett
Produced by Tony Brown, Billy Williams & Lyle Lovett
Courtesy of MCA/Curb Records

User Reviews

My first contact with Baseball...

As you might know, Baseball is not big in Germany. Hardly anybody knows or understands the rules. People watch soccer here. Basketball gets bigger. But Baseball? No.

So this movie, which many of my friends watched as well, was my first contact with this interesting sport. Of course, it is a fairy tale. Of course, the underdog won't get that big that it will beat everybody and win the championship. Or will it?

Sports history tells us different. The story is the same in every sport. Just two years ago, a team just promoted from second division won the German soccer championship!

This movie depicts the glorious story of a bunch of outsiders and underachievers who finally win some games. And it is told in such a wonderful manner that you can't but root for them on their way out of the slumps. Yes! It is a simple story! But the characters are wonderful, the wisecracking Harry Doyle incredibly funny and the finals... well... no spoilers here.

My most favorite moment is when oldtimer pitcher Harris is replaced by Charlie Sheens character in the finals. In the first games of the season, some die-hard fans had given Sheen the nickname "Wild thing" and sang the famous song. Now, the whole crowd is chanting this song as Sheen steps onto the field to pitch his largest enemy. This scene always gives me goosebumps. It is splendid.

Many great moments, excellent humor and a fate you would wish for your favorite sports team as well - unless you are one of those boring Yankees, Bulls or Bayern Muenchen fans...

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Japanese

Release Date:

7 April 1989 (USA)

Also Known As:

Major League

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$11,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,836,265, 9 April 1989

Gross USA:

$49,797,148

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$49,797,148

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirage Enterprises, Morgan Creek Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

107 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1